Similar species

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

White-winged Choughs are about Australian Magpie-sized birds with
charcoal-grey plumage
throughout. Part of the plumage on the back is slightly
iridescent.
Especially the front or the rump can look a bit unruly.
When unfolded the wings exhibit a large white patch on the underside
of the flight feathers; on the upperwing the same feathers have a
thin white stripe each. The tail is long and is often fanned or
wagged in display.
The eyes have red irises which, when the birds are excited, become
strikingly bright. The long, slender, down-curved bill is grey.
The legs and feet are dark-grey.
Juveniles
are more brownish and have faint, light-brown eyebrows.
Their eyes have dark irises.

Twitcher's tip

There are three Australian bird species that display a white spot
on their underwings: White-winged Chough, Pied Currawong and the
Dollarbird.

Taxonomy, classification

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.

The global distribution of the White-winged Chough is available
HERE
.

White-winged Choughs are endemic to Australia.
They populate the East and South-East of the Australian continent.
Nominate race "melanorhamphos"
is found in South-East QLD (South of
about the Whitsundays and as far West as the Paroo River) through
NSW into VIC and the south-eastern tip of SA. They are not found
anywhere along a narrow coastal strip North of the Hunter Valley,
NSW, and in two areas just to the East and West of Melbourne, VIC.
Starting around Adelaide, SA, and the hill range North of Adelaide,
plus on Eyre peninsula, race "whiteae" is found.

White-winged Choughs can be found in dry open
woodland, also
in mallee and
often along roadsides,
foraging in litter under or near trees.

Sightings

White-winged Choughs, race "melanorhamphos",
are a common sight in inland NSW, including the Narrabri area.
They are often seen foraging through leaf litter by roadsides in groups of up to 20.

White-winged Choughs, race "melanorhamphos",
are primarily autumn/winter guests at
Eulah Creek, 20 km East of Narrabri
in the years since 2007. They stay there at their own peril, often
being swooped by the local
Australian Magpies,
who in turn were hustled by Willie Wagtails.
From our observations it is clear that a whole family of White-winged
Choughs offers no resistence to the aggression of a single Australian Magpie. In years when the
local Australian Magpies
nest at some distance, White-winged Choughs can also be observed on
our property during the breeding season.

White-winged Choughs, race "melanorhamphos",
were found by us 5 km West of Walgett, NSW, on the banks of the
Barwon River, in June 2012.

White-winged Choughs on a lawn; note the bright red eyes - in the
shade the pupils are wide-open, while on photos below the irises
are much more prominent
[Eulah Creek, NSW, December 2006]

This White-winged Chough, while scratching itself, exhibits a
greenish-grey sheen of the plumage on its back
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2012]

Here a clear view of the striking red eyes of a White-winged Chough
[Eulah Creek, NSW, January 2008]

This White-winged Chough sentry was excited, wagging its tail and
bobbing its head while calling out to warn the rest of the clan
[Eulah Creek, NSW, August 2015]

While scratching, obviously this White-winged Chough has its eyes closed
[Eulah Creek, NSW, January 2008]

The photos above demonstrate that when the wings are folded,
the birds appear to be entirely black. Only when the wings
are spread or fanned the white wing patches become visible.

Clear view of a White-winged Chough fanning its wings and thereby
exposing the white wing feathers, which are visible on the upper
side of the wings
[Eulah Creek, NSW]

This dorsal view of a White-winged Chough fanning its wings and tail
feathers in a social display demonstrates clearly that the white
patches are also visible from the underside of the wings
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2009]

Also in flight a White-winged Chough's white patch is visible from
below and above (click on image for a view from above)
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2009]

White-winged Chough right out of the bathtub...
[Eulah Creek, NSW, February 2013]

Behaviour

So far we have not seen White-winged Choughs out in open terrain
for extended periods of time. They prefer to stay under the foliage
of trees or on the fringes of bushland. Wherever possible they stay
in the shade of trees or bushes.

Example of a family of White-winged Choughs sitting under a small tree
in a compact configuration; the birds stayed like that for at least 15
minutes
[Eulah Creek, NSW, January 2016]

When we observed a family clan of White-winged Chougsh away from the
busy parts of the
Warrumbungle NP it was clear that they had posted two
sentries to protect the group on the ground: One advance guard
and a rear guard, who were in constant contact with those on the
ground. When necessary, the sentries gave a warning, but the group
only reacted when the leader of the pack on the ground acknowledged
this.

Near camping and picnic facilities, where they are used to the
presence of humans, the sentries take part in the activities of the
flock on the ground.

In March 2011 we have observed 4 (probably related) family clans
foraging close to each other in our garden, with a total of about
30 members.

Dorsal view of a sentry watching over a clan of about 20 White-winged Choughs

White-winged Choughs were observed by us hustling a Lace Monitor, a
1.2-m long goanna. However, when swooped by two Australian Magpies, we have seen
a clan of seven White-winged Choughs form a defensive ring, everybody
facing outwards and ducking for cover. Even family clans of up to 20
birds will duck for cover when a single Australian Magpie hustles them.

For reasons unknown to us here a whole clan of White-winged Choughs
ducked low, hugging the ground, while there was no threat to them;
note how the whole group stays in a shady area
[Eulah Creek, NSW, April 2012]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.

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Last updated: 30
Dec. 2017.